I’m not much one for new year’s resolutions. If I happen to find the bit of paper at the end of the year it reads more like a catalogue of things I haven’t done than a list of achievements with ticks next to it.

A chirpy radio announcer was broadcasting what a wonderful time it is to not just make a plan for 2018, but to get out those 10 year plans and visions we have and tweak and adjust them for the year ahead. I must have lost that bit of paper too!

Although ever an optimist, even I have learnt from the experience of un-met expectations that perhaps it’s better simply not to set yourself up for failure. Deep down we all know that come the 1st of January we don’t magically become new people – this year we will be pretty much the same people as last year.

But I have an exception. There is one goal it’s always good to have on a list somewhere. No matter how many times we might have failed. It’s good to keep plugging away at it. So here it is:

News Years Resolution 2018
# Read the Bible more

There are lots of reasons why this is a good goal, but one compelling reason is simply the thought of not having it as a goal. What happens if we just gave up on this one, if we gave in to those fears of failure, those “it’s better not to try” thoughts? We might say, “Well I tried that last year and my devotions with God didn’t get any better.” But here is the thing: imagine if we hadn’t tried at all. We might not have gotten any better, but if we don’t care anymore, we will definitely get a lot worse!

But I am sure you do care. So why don’t you ask God to help you this year get to know him better through the reading of his Word. And that’s a prayer God couldn’t be happier to answer for you!

Simon Chaplin

(CREDIT: Takashi Hososhima via flickr.com)

Twitter now seems to be the preferred method of communication for at least one of our world leaders.

With a limit of 280 characters – it is difficult to say much – let alone explain anything complex. Who knows what might happen if the leader of another country takes something the wrong way?

God’s communication with us – the Bible – stretches to more than three and a half million characters.

But what would that be if we tweeted it? Let me try:

God creates the world We rebel God sends his Son Jesus into our world to be born in a stable + grow up to die on a cross but that’s not the end He defeats death + is raised to life offering every1 freedom from death. In short – a baby born in a shed saves the world #canyoubelieveit

That’s the sweetest tweet you’ll ever hear – but this Christmas, why not get the full picture by reading the Gospel of Luke in a modern version of the Bible. It won’t take you long.

Happy Christmas!

Dr Glenn N Davies
Archbishop of Sydney

“Jesus is _____.”  What goes in the blank?

This is a really good question for any time of the year, but especially at Christmas.

Christmas is a time when Jesus is spoken of more than normal in our society, but the answers people give are often far from the truth.

That’s one of the reasons we’re running a special campaign next March when we’re teaming up with Anglican churches from Ulladulla up to Sutherland, and from the Southern Highlands and Campbelltown across to the Illawarra.

We’ll be helping people consider the most important question facing the world: who is Jesus?

The churches of our wider region will be joined by all the students of Moore College, as well as receiving support from Anglicare.

Jesus himself once asked those around, “Who do you say I am?” (Mark 8:29), and so we want to help people with their answers to Jesus’ identity.

In our own, immediate area, we’re going to be running three days’ of public meetings at the new Shellharbour Civic Centre, at both 11am and 7pm on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of March 2018.

Our special speaker will be Ben Pfahlert, and over those three days he will be challenging the people from Dapto down to Gerringong and out to Albion Park and Jamberoo about who Jesus really is.

We’re also going to have three special training and prayer nights in the lead up, on Tuesday nights at 7pm in the Civic Centre, on the 30th January, the 13th of February and the 13th March, and we’d really love you be there to join with Anglicans from our region to pray that we’d be fired up to talk about Jesus.

So, put the dates in your diary, and start praying for great conversations with people who need to know Jesus.

And as we join together for this campaign, we pray that we’ll help many people know how to finish the sentence, “Jesus is _____.”

Jodie McNeill